So, after years when he seemed to be an infallible being, we now know Tiger Woods is human. He hurts just like the rest of us.

Yesterday, at Mount Juliet, the simple act of bending to place a tee peg into the ground or to put a marker behind his ball brought a pained expression as he attempted to defy the back injury that had threatened his very participation in the championship.

But play he did, and sufficiently well - signing for a four-under par 68 - to indicate that, even when not in the whole of his health, he remains inherently competitive.

In accumulating his career eight major titles and a wheelbarrow full of WGC titles, Woods has shown a stubborn, relentless streak coming down the stretch.

On this occasion, the world's number two golfer, but the game's most iconic figure, showed a different kind of stubbornness. Troubled by a back injury that has plagued him for over a week, Woods spent hours on the physiotherapy table on Wednesday evening and yesterday morning and took painkillers to enable him play, even if the jerky swing action and - at times - the follow-through kick with his right foot bore few similarities to his usual silky swing.

But, hey, he got the job done.

"I don't know if my swing looked halfway decent, but it sure didn't feel any good," he remarked.

Right up to the time Woods exited the physiotherapy trailer and made the 60 yards walk to the range, a doubt about his participation remained. Once there, he hit 50, maybe 60, shots. Starting with a half-wedge and working up to his driver, Woods went through his warm-up routine.

"Once I hit driver and could carry it over 200 yards, I figured it was all right," said Woods later. "I figured I could probably play and kind of roll it down the fairway somehow." He added: "I figured if I could just get the ball on the green somehow, (because) I've been putting great, that it was a matter of just getting on the green and making the putts. I was hoping I could get there in regulation and I did that most of the day and I made a lot of putts."

So, when Woods made the long walk along the back of the ninth green and the grandstand on the 18th towards the first tee, there was almost a collective sigh of relief from the galleries who lined the crash barriers along his route. That relief was soon transformed into wonderment. As if by magic, Woods - without a win in a strokeplay tournament since claiming this title a year ago - started his round birdie, birdie. He wasn't just appearing, he was competing.

For Woods, though, each swing brought pain. And, throughout his round, caddie Steve Williams applied muscle relaxant gel in an attempt to keep the area around his shoulder blades warm.

"Stevie couldn't believe the knots in it. He said, 'it feels like you've got a sleeve of golf balls in there'."

After his round, Woods admitted his participation was in doubt right up to the time he hit the range but he now expected to be able to play all four rounds.

"I was hoping the spasms would go away, but that didn't happen. I knew I just had to get through it somehow and post a number . . . I don't know how it's going to feel tomorrow, whether or not today is going to make it feel worse. But hopefully I'll feel better, that each and every day it will feel better. That's the hope, at least."